World Cup shooting tourney propels Ahrens to top African rank

Olympic Trap shooter Gaby Ahrens became the top marks-woman of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in Africa after landing an 11th place at the first World Cup of the season in Tuscon, USA last month.The ranking was released last week and the ISSF confirmed in a letter that the 32-year old brand-ambassador of Hyundai Namibia is now the number one of the continent.“We can confirm that Miss Ahrens, Gaby Diana, is currently on the first position in the African ranking in the ISSF Trap, Women event,” the letter issued by the Federation read. With this, the Windhoek-born shooter has also met the qualifying criteria for the Commonwealth Games in August.Ahrens had opted to part-take at the World Cup in Tucson (Arizona), where some of the finest shooters from around the globe show-cased their skills, specifically to increase her world ranking.

Although the hot and dry conditions favoured her, she shot a disappointing first round, hitting only 19 of the 25 targets. But after that, the former African champion underlined her class as she struck 22 and 23 clay pigeons during the next two rounds respectively.Ahrens eventually finished the qualification round with a total score of 64, missing out on a place among the top six that went through to the final with only two targets. “The first round cost me a better position at the end of the day. If I had scored another 22 or 23 there, I would have surely made the final. But on a positive note, I’m glad I recovered from the first round and shot some good results thereafter,” Ahrens said.It was the best result ever scored by an African female shooter. “Miss Ahrens has also obtained the 11th place in the ISSF shotgun World Cup that took place in Tucson, USA in April 2014, thus obtaining the best rank ever achieved by a female shooter from Africa in a world cup,” the letter further states.The tournament in the United States, marking the first of four World Cups spread throughout the year, was won by Laetischa Scanlan of Australia who beat Sarah Wixey of Great Britain in the final. Scanlan had already dominated the qualification round, being on target on 70 out of 75 occasions.Ahrens would now like to participate at another World Cup, especially the one in Munich in June, to continue improving and be at her best should her participation at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow materialise. Unfortunately, such travels come at a high cost and Ahrens kindly calls on the private sector to come out and help her achieve her dreams.